Jialiang Wang
Long Island City
My project, Long Island City, is a series of photos documenting the neighborhood of Long Island City in Queens, New York. It is a portrait of the neighborhood that reveals the changes that have occurred over time, as traces of industrial activity and commerce have faded away. I also photographed myself moving through the neighborhood and captured introspective landscapes with a large-format camera. In the photographic process, I magnified these scenes, turning them into a close study of the mundane.
Along with presenting images of Long Island City, the series delves into the history and topography of the neighborhood. Drawing on the archives of the Queens Library and the New York Public Library, I incorporated materials including scans, collages, digital media, and recorded video into the project. I captured both color and black-and-white images of the neighborhood on large-format film, which I used to create a fluid image grid and a photo book. The images are accompanied by short stories in the form of autofiction that offer clues to my interactions with and memories of Long Island City. The anonymous pseudo-protagonist represents the people of the neighborhood going about their daily routines.
jialiangwang.net/still/long-island-city
This thesis project contains copyrighted material, the use of which has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. I have determined this to be "fair use" of the copyrighted material as referenced and provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. If you wish to use any copyrighted material from this document for purposes of your own that go beyond fair use, you must obtain express permission from the copyright owner.
